Colleges/Manassas (Richmond, Arlington, Hampton: home, transfer to, private schools)

[Sunshinern140]

My husband and I are looking into moving to Manassas area next year. We have 3 college students living with us (our kids)... 18,19,20. What colleges are close by? Do you have to wait a full year before you get in-state tuition? I have been reading the threads and have mixed feelings about your town. I live in Michigan, I'm an RN and work at our local county jail. (I see the worse of the worse) We have crime, gangs, different races. bad neighbor hoods too. All town/cities have a bad area. I live in west Michigan 10 minutes from Lake Michigan. Universities are two hours away from our home now. Snow and bad weather makes for 3 hours!!
What we are looking for is to move into the best neighbor hood, both husband and I are nurses. We want to work locally and have the kids be able to go to a university and still live at home to defray the cost. Let me know some positive stuff!! I love Alexandria, but that is too costly!
Christy

[VRE332]

I imagine you could work at the Prince William Hosiptal, however if you look in Haymarket there is a brand new facility there. Manassas is kind of old, but there are some really nice places to live in Gainesville or Haymarket. I suggest try those towns first. PW Hospital is nice, and the birthing center is great too.

Oh by the way, dont think you can come down here and vote for Democrats because Virginia is a nice state to live in and we're going to keep it that way.

Colleges close by are:

George Mason University
Northern Virginia Community College
University of Virginia
Virginia Tech - (Polytechnic full name I don't remember)
Georgetown University
American University
University Mary Washington
George Washington
Gibbs College

http://www.univsource.com/va.htm

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by VRE332

Oh by the way, dont think you can come down here and vote for Democrats because Virginia is a nice state to live in and we're going to keep it that way.

The OP should feel free to vote for whomever they want besides the fact that we shouldn't assume their political affiliation.

The definition of a "nice state to live in" is definitely subjective. Both major parties seem to be working hard these days to help convince us of their view of it.

I do agree with the selection of schools. I believe a year's residency is required for in-state tuition.

[LVMYDACH]

One area that you may want to consider living would be in Centreville. It is a nice family friendly community and is located not far from the Manassas area (in Fairfax County). Your kids could have the option of attending school at George Mason University (Fairfax campus) or Northern Va Community College (Manassas campus). Both of these schools are within commuting distance for students. George Mason University is the closer of the two, being only a 15 minuite drive from Centreville to campus. Students are required to live in the state of VA for 1-year to receive in-state tutition rates. You may want to consider having your kids go to the community college for 1 year (cheaper out-of-state tuition rates) and then transfer to George Mason University after they have lived in VA for 1 year to get the in-state rates. The Centreville area would also be a good location if you and your husband worked at either Prince William Hospital (Manassas), INOVA Fair Oaks Hospital, or INOVA Fairfax Hospital. These are not far from Centreville. INOVA Fairfax Hospital would be little further, but not a bad commute. My daughter is a junior at George Mason University and loves it. She currently lives on campus. She did live at home and commuted to campus her freshman year. She decided to live on campus the last two years in order to be able to experience the full campus life! It has made it much easier for her to be more actively involved in campus activities, clubs, making new friends etc.

One good thing that we like about Centreville is that it is centrally located and you can go easily in several directions to eat, shop at several different malls etc. It is also a safe community and the housing is reasonably priced for the location. We have lived here for 12 years.

[Nemesis15]

Your choice of colleges are:

American
Catholic
George Mason
Georgetown
George Washington
Howard University
James Madison ( 1hr. and a half commute)
Mary Washington
Northern Virginia Community College
University of District of Columbia

In proximity to your location, I would definitely say follow what LVMYDACH said, and attend the community college then after a year transfer if you want, or stay for the two year associate and transfer to another school. I want to say firsthand that I transferred from the "most prestigious" school on my list to George Mason, and in my opinion, the GMU Social Science and Humanities professors have been tough but very knowledgable about their expertise. GMU is a rising college supposedly with a US&News #1 top college to watch for "upcoming schools."

Good luck with the moving in transition.

[Sunshinern140]

Thank you so much!! All your information has been very helpful!!
Christy

[knopfler]

Originally Posted by Nemesis15

Your choice of colleges are:

American
Catholic
George Mason
Georgetown
George Washington
Howard University
James Madison ( 1hr. and a half commute)
Mary Washington
Northern Virginia Community College
University of District of Columbia

In proximity to your location, I would definitely say follow what LVMYDACH said, and attend the community college then after a year transfer if you want, or stay for the two year associate and transfer to another school. I want to say firsthand that I transferred from the "most prestigious" school on my list to George Mason, and in my opinion, the GMU Social Science and Humanities professors have been tough but very knowledgable about their expertise. GMU is a rising college supposedly with a US&News #1 top college to watch for "upcoming schools."

Good luck with the moving in transition.

Add to that Shenandoah University, Galludet University, University of Maryland-College Park, Marymount University, Southeastern University, and Trinity College. No end of solid choices in this area.

If you extend to the state of Virginia as a whole, you add in Virginia Tech, Sweet Briar College, University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University, Hampton University, Old Dominion University, Christopher Newport University, University of Virginia, Radford, Longwood, Hampden-Sydney College, Randolph Macon...the list goes on and on.

I do believe that you need to be a resident for one year before you can claim in-state rates. Old Dominion gives a breakdown: ODU Registrar -- Instate Tuition, Definitions

Welcome to Prince William County! There are some new and newer developments in Manassas as well as Gainesville and Bristow - I'm sure you'll be able to find what you want. The pricing's definitely going to be much more to your liking than if you moved last year, too!

[claremarie]

But given the constraints (three kids living at home in Manassas area to save money), all of the private universities are off the table, as are the Maryland public universities. The best suggestion was to attend community college for a year to establish residency, and then transfer to George Mason. Or, if the kids are stellar students and your income sufficiently low, consider one of the pricier private schools that give extensive scholarships.

[akorosdc]

Mary Washington is a great school, and not too far away (about an hour). The drive would mostly be against traffic (unless they took all night classes), and you would probably be able to work around traffic somewhat.

Living in Fredericksburg would be best, since there are few commuters from outside that area, but it's still a viable option if they live in Manassas (and less expensive than the private schools). Many professors live up in Alexandria or Arlington and commute down. I knew a few students who commuted from further north, but in all honesty most only did that for a year before either transferring or getting their own place in F'burg.

[LVMYDACH]

Just another thought from my previous post. I think one important thing that must be considered in making a decision where to move is the commuting distance the kids will have to travel each day to their college. All three kids are going to have totally different schedules. It is very difficult to schedule classes exactly the times that you want. I don't think the kids would want to hang out the entire day on campus if they have a split schedule. It would make it a very long day! The kids may need to use more than one vehicle to manage their class schedules. That's going to be an extra cost as well! My daughter's classes at George Mason University are spread out over a four day period (Mon-Thurs) and times range from starting in the early morning hours, afternoon and evening. She may have a class early morning on a given day then her next class in not until the evening. A lot of classes start at 7:20 PM and last until 10 PM. Most kids at GMU like to keep Fridays free, but this year my daughter said that a lot of kids are having to sign up for classes on Fridays. More students are enrolling at GMU, therefore, more classes are needed. I'm sure this is true of Northern Va Community College as well because more students are enrolling because the tuition cost is less. Just a few things to think about in you decisionmaking process!